Saturday, April 7, 2018

Just a few of the beautiful peace globes sent in from around the world during peace week. We are inspired by them. We are moved by them. This gallery blog is full of such inspiration. Have a look around.

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Please sign the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post or leave a comment. If you tag me on Facebook, that's even better! Most of you are doing that anyway. Thank you for blogging for peace today. Thank you for creating this powerful community of international peace activists! You encourage and empower me to do more. Now go inspire others to do the same. Love you all.

Remember Your Mission

There was this wind you see...

I heard it come round the north side of the biggest tree on Bloggingham Mountain, swirling and dancing and making a noise that I, in all my human years on earth, had never heard. Outside my bedroom window it spun through the pane like lightning, a fiercely potent spirit of nature capable of shattering glass and breaking bricks. Directly over my head it made a mighty swooshing sound and landed near the ceiling of my bedroom, in the center, over my heart lying supine beneath it wide-eyed and breathless, through my ears and inside the firings in my brain it surged and sang a familiar song.

Except for my awe-struck tears it was a waterless landing. It left no damage behind, this personal hurricane of mine, exiting as it rattled the joists with a deafening whirling sound and encircled the lamp lights like dancing wind ghosts full of secrets.

I was shaken, deeply moved... but strangely not afraid.

This visitation happened a few weeks ago.

The next morning I checked the weather reports.

Had there been wind last night? No, said the forecaster.

Had there been a storm last night? No, said the weatherman.

Had there been a palpable unnatural phenomenon?

Yes, said the girl in the unscathed bed.

Perspective.

The presence of a mighty rushing wind in my bedroom is not such a foreign concept to me. There are two previous occurrences in my life that could be described as oddly prophetic, if not downright supernatural, and both came in the form of a dream. Both were direct and specific answers to prayer. Both involved a tempest. One was a shattering and violent tornado dream the night before I was about to majorly change the course of my life. I saw my family stumbling over the rubble of our home; we were still intact, just walking in different directions. The very next day I knew that I knew that I knew that THIS was the day I'd prayed to recognize and act upon. Peace. In the middle of chaos.

The second one was a dream of my father after he passed away. After a long illness with much pain, I yearned to see him well and whole. I prayed for peace. And so my dad appeared to me in a dream, during a gusty thunderstorm outside the same bedroom window in Bloggingham, in a glow of yellow light with hugs and kisses to let me know he was fine. My sister had the same dream the same night. I never worried about him again. Peace.

The third one has yet - until this night in 2017 - been told.

I'm about to tell it to you.

You will need the long and vivid history of my relationship with such things to understand the significance of a warm fall night that recently shook up and elevated my appreciation for the unexplainable - such as the sound of breathing living wind pounding on my bedroom window.

Except this time, it was no dream. It was as real as flies on a summer watermelon or the smack of a bat on a lighted baseball field.

It happened many many years ago.

In the same room.

On the same mountain.

I'd gone to lie down for a nap on a Sunday afternoon. I was as exhausted as I've ever been, but couldn't sleep. Quite suddenly, a paralyzing feeling came over my entire body. Like my body was weighted and worn. I tried to move my arms but I couldn't. My legs would not budge, not even my toes, and it felt like every ounce of life was being swept from my body. I felt my heartbeat steadily decrease into slower and slower beats. My breathing began to slow down. I couldn't open my eyes. I couldn't see! My world was pitch black and yet I was peaceful. There was no need to call out for help or in fear, because I wasn't afraid.

And I most definitely wasn't alone.

"You can go now," the Voice said. "I know you are tired. It's alright if you want to come with Me. I'm here.

You can come with me. It's OK."

No life. No breath. No movement. No heartbeat.

Just a sound. A swooshing sound.

That suddenly traveled up through my entire body and fully forced its way straight out of the top of my head, like a spiritual vacuum of sorts, leaving me void and still. That was the last physical sensation I felt as my mind pondered an answer to the inaudible gentle Voice hovering above my bed. The choice was clear. The intent was loving. I was torn.

"I want to go with you," I told Him. "It would be so nice to let go and let you take me with you." I don't know how long I stayed between my world and His, but it was as clear a picture of perfect peace I've ever had the privilege of experiencing.

There was nothing but energy and life in that space between.

How long would He wait? I wanted to stay in that place forever and yet....

"I want to finish my work," I told Him. "I want to go with You but I can't.

I am choosing to stay."

I felt a deep and warm covering of love and acceptance. I was saturated with peace.

He was gone.

I felt my breathing return and the blood start to flow. A foggy sensation in my head and then eyesight returned. I slowly began to move my hands and arms and feel my heart beating again. I fell into a deep sleep and was very tired for a couple of days.

Physically, I was fine. Spiritually, I was never the same.

Why did I stay? What was my purpose?

My purpose was to continue to serve what I was serving. To love. To be present. To continue to hold space for those who needed me. And to finish the race I began. I've never regretted the choice I made. I sometimes regret the way I spend my choice.

So. Now you understand why I sat straight up and paid attention when that same swooshing sound entered Bloggingham's walls once again a few weeks ago. My spirit knew that this was not a calling away but a calling to. I felt energized and grateful. Deep in my Cherokee soul I knew it was a spirit wind, even if my pencil skirt analytical brain had to call the weather station to make sure.

Native American symbol for wind

Native American belief holds that the Earth element of Air brings new life and transformation.

My Cherokee roots tell me this is so. The air element of wind brings spirit and words together as one. It was true for me the day I chose to stay. We had a non-verbal conversation full of power and love. Those are the best kind! Unconditional love and acceptance shaped my destiny. All I had to do was say YES.In our world, we're bombarded with carelessly uttered words each day that mean nothing at all. What could words full of glorious intent do instead?

Destinies are carried on the wind you see.

They come with transitions. Travail is hard. It is the most painful part of childbirth.

But I'm here to tell you that there's some healing happening in my life and some amazing answers to prayer that have spun on the web of the universe for decades.

Happening right now.

Don't discount prayers and intents you spoke eons ago. Their time will come.

We carry on you see. Sometimes we carry on for someone else. We may not realize this for years. I carry my Papa's unfinished work. We carry our people with us. We bring them into our own journeys. Our destinies are born the minute we take our first breath. They are not ours to disown. They cannot be discarded as if you suddenly changed your mind. You know in the sinew and bones of your being what your destiny is.

We carry our destinies inside us.

Our children and those we love carry theirs. Sometimes two destinies are entwined and overlap - one helping the other. Most often you don't realize how intermingled you are with someone else for many many years. Like our peace globes. And that old sack full of dusty marbles, a box full of plastic dolls and stories that fall from heaven in my ever-astounded lap, like silk on granite to my soul, to assist in my understanding of what I'm put on this earth to do.

Sooner or later, you either accept them or lay them aside. And you might not have just one. There are seasons and times for different purposes you see. All equally important to your soul. But don't expect someone else to pick up your destiny and run with it.

It's yours for a reason.

I found that out when my eternal choice was made ever so clear.

So listen! Even when you're faced with the choice to stay or go, remember your mission. You have one! Have you finished your life's work? Have you finished today's work? Has this relationship served its purpose? Or is there more to do? To say? Do your children need you? Does your community need you? Does the world need you?

YES. A resounding YES.

Your vision will take you far. Even when you can't see. Even when your arms are lifeless and your heart can't pump blood through your bedroom slippers. Even when you're dying in the middle of a talk with the Almighty in your very own bedroom. Even then!

We travel between two worlds all the time. Every day. Every choice we make. Every word we say. Every time we choose to love or choose to hate, we are walking out our destinies and learning how to make better choices.

I believe .....

We are destined to be whole and perfectly whole. Peaceful and perfectly peaceful.

Steady and perfectly steady. Loving and perfectly loving.

Not in some eternal striving for perfection that causes stress - but in letting go of the struggle.

Of surrendering to the unknown

Of choosing to step into what is ours and let it take us where it will.

Sometimes the wind is a mighty rushing wind

That's the kind of wind I want in my life.

Because I don't have time to dance around with breezes

and neither do you

Remember your mission.

You might have a Wind to answer to. And on that day, when it comes, you'll want to answer rightly. Get ready. There's a mighty wind about to call your name.You're not finished yet.

About Sharing, Linking, and Copyright

Your peace globe and post will be assigned a number and placed in the Official Gallery at blog4peace.com. By participating in Blog4Peace you agree that your peace globe designs and links may be displayed on other social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Digg, etc and shared across the Blogosphere wherever peace bloggers are found online, in the name of world peace and in the spirit of promoting this work. They may also be used in printed works and publications online and elsewhere by the founder of this movement in creating published works about the Blog4Peace movement.

Every effort will be made to credit, notify and obtain permission from the artist if and when the design on your peace globe template is chosen to be featured in printed works, books, or online publications.

If you do not want your peace globe shared and made accessible to others, let me know the day it is submitted or simply submit an anonymous unsigned peace globe.

Otherwise, please understand that this movement is all about spreading the message.

Thank you for being part of this incredible community of peace bloggers.

About Sharing and Linking:

It is perfectly alright to SHARE on social media sites from this blog. These beautiful creations and words should be seen and heard in the Blogosphere. However, images and links on this website may not be copied, downloaded or redistributed offline in printed works for profit or elsewhere online for profit without express permission of the blog author, Mimi Lenox. Uses other than sharing from a Share button is a violation of copyright.

Special Launch Event Thursday, July 12, 2012

We launched the 2012 BlogBlast4Peace season with a trip to the shore (real and virtual). I am already on the Atlantic. If you were here with us July 12 at sunset, even in spirit, then you were a part of the 2012 launch for BlogBlast4Peace. I can think of no better way to announce our November 4th campaign than a designated time for all to bring the same thoughts and vibes to the table....er...ocean. Then it won't be just me making an announcement. It will be all of us. I like it!Facebook Event page ishere. It was a great success. Thank you. Let the peace begin.

Good Work In The World

About Sharing and Linking

If there is a share button visible on this site then by all means share the peace! Otherwise, images and links on this website may not be copied, downloaded or redistributed elsewhere online without express permission of the blog author, Mimi Lenox.